HiWe are going outback and will be camping on stations etc and no luxury of a real toilet for us. So, not having had to " dig" before- has anyone got any useful advice for us- specifically as we are taking our two young kids- one of whom is in the throws of a tiring battle with toilet training .

Hi, We've just come back from 12 months around oz with a 3yo & a 5yo - the youngest was toilet trained on the road. Best thing we ever did. We purchased a small tent and a toilet stool and it works fine. You dig a deep hole (depth depends on no of 1 or 2's and days staying at a site) dig the hole down wind and away from your camp. You then pop the stool over the hole, then the tent over that. we left a small led torch in ours for nigh time. The tent is a spring wire type it folds down into a flat circle about 1mt in dia and about 6cm thick, you unzip it and let rip it virtually sets-up itself.

I took my daughter bush camping when she was toilet training and it was great. There were only 2 of us and we were only there for a few days, so I told her to just go do #1s anywhere away from the campsite and had to dig a hole for the #2s. She did very well. And most of the time she ran around without pants on too! So no massive pile of washing at the end of the trip!

One of our next camping trips after that one was to a caravan park and it was waaaaaay harder to get her to go to the toilet there than it had been to get her to go in the bush.

Well I bought a porta loo today from Kmart for $80 marked down from the $130 price tag a few weeks ago. After reading a few other posts on this topic, I think it's a little more civilized than digging and squating over a hole. I suppose you could use it at home for the kids during training too, And it saves you from cleaning the traditional type training bowl each time. Besides there's nothing worse than camping near freshly dug holes.

Just another thing, There are alot of pop up shower / toilet tent's out there for well over $80 but I found one (Escape with ET made by Coleman) for $40 from Big W, Matched up with a 12v Shower, I can now stay at less crowded campsites for longer periods of time.

DD, I recommend that you use either Coles or Woolies generic nappy soaker in place of the usual chemicals.

Dissolve one cap full in 1 litre warm water and put it in the bottom tank. You can also use a small amount in the top tank too if you wish as it will prevent algae buildup.

The generic brands of nappy soaker have the highest content of sodium percarbonate which is what is used to break down the solids. It is also the same active ingredient as what is in the environmentally friendly chemicals but at a quarter the price. Quilton is also the best toilet paper as it seems to break down better than the others.

I know it's not really much to think about the environment when you gotta go, but be mindful of nearby waterways and streams as it may eventually leach into the water system. As a rule, a hole must be dug at least 50mts away and 10" deep from the nearest stream, Also a reason why water must be boiled before consuming but really who would want a piece of "log" floating past you in a river, or maybe worse and has happened to me, you get a nice whiff while your bushwalking, at least do it off the trail. One campsite I almost stayed at had a few beer bottle caps laying around and thought nothing of it, until the wind changed, A nearby tree was used as a urinal, so i relocated.

And the last thing I'll say is, have you tried having to dig n dump after way too many, It's interesting to say the least.. Put it this way, It won't happen again!!

.....We have just come back from a golfing weekend away on a Moreton Bay Island. The house we stayed in had a composting drop toilet and on the first night we were there we heard odd sounds coming from the toilet every time someone used it. Turned out there was a cat stuck in there!!!!! We couldn't get into the locked door downstairs that led to it so had to wait until morning to get the real estate agent to come and unlock it and rescue the cat. We just couldn't bring ourselves to use the toilet all night, and hardly slept all night listening to a very woeful meow coming from below!

Last edited by amanda on Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt - then it's bloody hilarious!